Blast brush cleaner



Aug. 23, 1966 E. T. BRYAND 3,267,508

BLAST BRUSH CLEANER Filed March 4, 1964 INVENTOR. EDWARD T- BRYAND F BYpiaqqm v-P ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,267,508 BLAST BRUSH CLEANEREdward T. Bryand, South Portland, Maine, assignor to fietal-Tech, Inc,Biddeford, Maine, a corporation of .arne

Filed Mar. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 349,352 2 (Zlaims. (Cl. 3tl6) Thisinvention relates to air cleaners especially for removing cutter dustfrom webs, or sheets, of dry paper during the paper manufacturingprocess.

It has long been known to provide elongated suction boxes, under thewire of a paper making machine, for extracting 'water from the pulp. Ithas also long been known to provide vacuum cleaner and commercial dustcollection systems for removing dry dust from rugs, from machines andfrom other articles or locations.

However, in the paper making art, it has been found that conventionalsuction devices are somewhat inetficient in removing dry dust from drypaper, for example, the cutter dust created when a web of paper is cutinto sheets by a rotating cutter knife.

In this invention, positive air pressure and negative air pressure arecombined in the same unit. Thus, not only is the loose, dry cutter dustsucked into the vacuum box but also, jets of air under high pressureimpinge on the material to dislodge and detach all dust for entranceinto the suction apertures of the unit.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a dust cleaner, orblast brush, having an apertured, lower wall capable of satisfactorilyremoving dry dust generated by a rotating cutter in cutting a web ofpaper into individual sheets, while said sheets are individually andsuccessively carried thereby on a suction roll.

Another object of the invention is to provide a positive dust removalunit for treating one face of a plurality of individual paper sheetswhile the opposite face is being treated by, and is suction supported ona suction roll, the unit being under the rotary cutter and removingslitter and cutter debris from the edges of the cut web.

A further object of the invention is to provide a suction box with aflat lower wall having a pair of parallel rows of suction apertures anda central row of air pressure jet orifices, the dust and debrisdislodged by the jets being caught up in the suction streams on eachopposite side thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theclaims, the description of the drawing and from the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view, in section, on line 1-1 of FIG. 3, of a blastbrush constructed in accordance with the invention mounted opposite aweb carrying roll;

FIG. 2 is an end view in section, on line 22 of FIG. 1, of the deviceshown in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a plan view in section, on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, of the deviceshown in FIGURES l and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the blast brush of the invention is mounted under aconventional rotary knife drum 21 having a series of fly knives such as22 cooperating with a bed knife 23 to cut a web of dry, thin paper 24,or other sheet-like material into individual sheets 25. A suitable guide27 directs each cut sheet into tangential contact on the surface 28 of acylindrical roll 29, the surface 28 travelling in the same direction asthe sheets and forming part of the predetermined path of advance of thesheets. A doctor blade 31 strips each successive individual sheet fromthe surface 28 and guides the sheets into the nip 32 of upper and lowerconveyor, or carrier belts 33 and 34.

Roll 29 is a suction roll having a perforated, or apertured, surface 28and a suction mechanism 35 within the Patented August 23, 19%6 roll sothat the lower face 36 of each sheet, advancing individually andsuccessively on the curved path defined by the curved surface 28 of theroll is subjected to suction for removing dust while also being adheredto the surface 28 for firm control of the sheets 25. In conventionalsuction roll systems of this type, the slitter and cutter debris locatedalong the leading cut edge 37, the trailing cut edge 38 and the upperface 39 of each sheet 25 is often not removed .and its presence tends toreduce the commercial acceptance of the product.

The blast brush, or cleaner, 29 of the invention comprises suction means41 including the hollow, fluid tight suction box 42, a pair of suctionconduits 43 and 44 each connecting the interior 45 of box 42 to a sourceof suction, or negative air pressure, such as mill suction or a mot-orpowered air exhauster of any well known type indicated generally at 46.

The suction box 42 includes a flat, apertured lower wall 40 providedwith a treatment face 47, in a plane generally parallel to the plane ofthe path of the sheets 25, but at a spaced distance above the path ofthe upper surface 39 of the sheets. A pair of brackets 48 and 49 arefixed to the ends of the box 42, each having a vertical slot such as 51therein for bolts such as 52 threaded in the frame 53. The box 42 maythus be moved toward and away from the path of the sheets to adjust thetreatment face 47 at the desired distance from the sheet path.

The suction box 42, and the treatment face 47, extend transversely ofthe path of the sheets and the treatment face 47 is provided with atleast one row 54 of suction apertures 55 extending axially of the face47 and transversely of the sheet path. Preferably a second row 56, ofapertures 57 is provided, the rows 54 and 56 each extendinglongitudinally along the outside of face 47 to define a central,longitudinally extending face portion 58 therebetween. The suctionapertures 55 and 57 are in the form of continuous, or interrupted,elongated slots adapted to pass debris, dust or other foreign materialinto the interior 45 of box 42 for removal to exhauster 46.

The air blast means 61 includes a fluid tight, hollow plenum 62preferably mounted within the interior 45 of the suction box 42 to forma separate compartment having an upper wall 63, side walls 64 and 65 anda lower wall 66. The plenum 62 is of smaller cross sectional area thanthat of the box 42 to enable dust to be extracted from the sheets,through the rows 54 and 56 of apertures around the plenum and outthrough the suction conduits 43 and 44.

The plenum 62 is mounted parallel to the longitudinal center line of box42 and a row 67 of air jet orifices 68 is drilled through, or otherwiseformed in, the central portion 58 of the treatment face 47 of the lowerwall 40 and in the bottom wall 66 of the plenum. Thus the row 67 oforifices 68 extends parallel to the rows 54 and 56 of suction slots,intermediate thereof to dislodge dust and debris for collection in thesuction apertures. A pair of air conduits 71 and 72, each at an oppositeend of plenum 62, and each passing through a wall 73 of the box 42 at areduced end 74 or 75 thereof, connect the interior 76 of the plenum to asource of air under positive pressure such as the mill air supply or amotor operated blower of any well known type indicated generally at 77.The orifices 68 are circular in outline, of relatively small diameter,for example of an inch and are closely spaced apart, for example inch,although the spacing and diameter may be increased or decreaseddepending on the width of the web, or sheets, of paper. The suctionslots may be about .032 inch in width although this dimension is alsogoverned by the width of the web and may be greater or less depending onthe application.

I claim:

1. A blast brush, for removing dust from dry, thin sheet-like materialadvancing individually and successively along a predetermined path, saidbrush comprising:

a fluid tight, elongated hollow suction box having a fiat lower wallwith a treatment face extending generally parallel to the path of saidmaterial and having means for connecting the interior of said box to asource of suction;

at least two rows of spaced suction apertures in said wall extendingaxially of said box and transversely of the path of said material, eachsaid row being on an opposite side of a central axially extendingportion of said face'for collecting dust from said material into saidsuction box;

at least one row of air blast orifices in said wall extending axially ofsaid box and transversely of the path of said material in the saidcentral, axially extending portion of said face between said rows ofsuction apertures; I

a fluid tight plenum centrally mounted within said box and connected tosaid roW of air blast orifices;

and means on said box for connecting said plenum to a source of airunder positive pressure for blowing air through said air blast orificesin said wall against said material to separate dust therefrom.

2. A cleaner for removing dust from material advancing along apredetermined path, said cleaner comprising: suction means, including anelongated suction box having a fiat lower wall with a treatment faceextending transversely of said path at a spaced distance therefrom, saidwall having a pair of parallel, longitudinally extending, rows ofsuction apertures, each on an opposite side of a longitudinallyextending central portion of said face, for extracting dust from saidmaterial;

air blast means, including at least one longitudinally extending row ofair blast orifices, in said central portion of said treatment face, inparallelism with said rows of suction apertures and a plenum within saidsuction box, connecting said orifices to a source of positive airpressure, and

a suction roll mounted to rotate opposite said treatment face, said rollhaving a suction surface travelling along said path and supporting thelower face of said material while the upper face thereof is subjected tosaid air blast means and said suction means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTSGreat Britain,

WALTER A, SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

1. A BLAST BRUSH, FOR REMOVING DUST FROM DRY, THIN SHEET-LIKE MATERIALADVANCING INDIVIDUALLY AND SUCCESSIVELY ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH, SAIDBRUSH COMPRISING: A FLUID TIGHT, ELONGATED HOLLOW SUCTION BOX HAVING AFLAT LOWER WALL WITH A TREATMENT FACE EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TOTHE PATH OF SAID MATERIAL AND HAVING MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE INTERIOROF SAID BOX TO A SOURCE OF SUCTION; AT LEAST TWO ROWS OF SPACED SUCTIONAPERTURES IN SAID WALL EXTENDING AXIALLY OF SAID BOX AND TRANSVERSELY OFTHE PATH OF SAID MATERIAL, EACH SAID ROW BEING ON AN OPPOSITE SIDE OF ACENTRAL AXIALLY EXTENDING PORTION OF SAID FACE FOR COLLECTING DUST FROMSAID MATERIAL INTO SAID SUCTION BOX;